Postman&#39;s umbrella attachment



July 27, 1943. w. H. MAJOR POSTMANS UMBRELLA ATTACHMENT 2 Sheets-Shet 1Filed Jul 19 16, 1942 anon-Mien,

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 July 27, 1943. w. H. MAJOR POSTMANS UMBRELLA ATTACHMENTFiled June 16, 1942 Patented July 27, 1943 NITED STAT rosrMANs UMBRELLAATTAGHMENT 'Way'ne H. Major, Fortlvayiie, Ind. Application ms is,1942,8erial its. 1229 1 claim. (or. 224-51) 7 I Thisinvention relates toarticle supports arm has specialreference' to a support for umbrellascarried by'postmen and' other persons making 7 house to house deliveriesor" articles frombags suspended from the shoulder of the carrier.-

One important object ofthe invention 'is to provide anovel umbrellasupport detachabl-y attachable to a mail bag or the like' and arrangedto support sin-umbrella in such manner as to leave both'of ones handsfree to handle matter from the bag. A 1 i A second important'obj ect ofthe invention is to provide, in such a device, novel means whereby theheight at which the umbrella extends above the bag may be regulated. 1 Athird important object of the invention is to provide a novelarrangement of umbrella-carrier wherein'wind action tending lift the -umbre'lia when openisresiliently'checked:

A fourthiimportant object 'of'the' invention is to provide a novelclampingarrangement roran innorella carrier so constructed thatth'ecarrier is supported not only by themail bag but also by theshoulderstrap carrying 'such mailbag.

With an ordinary umbrellastrapped to a person or an article carried bysuch. person so'thatit cannot freely rotate the motion'ofi the personsbody tends to set up a constant oscillatory movement of the umbrellacanopyor'cover and this is so-mount an umbrellaforthe purpose set forth7 that it will be freely rotatabjlejendthus permitted toyield tothe-movements ofxa person in" walking and also to yield when struckagainstan immovable object. V V 1" With the aboyeyand other objects inview, as presently will be apparent, the invention consists in generalof certain novel details of construction and combinations of partshereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings alarger scale than Figure 1, the view illustrating the right side. i

3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Figure 1 but on the same scale asFigure 2} Figure 4 is a fragmentary elevation of the left side of thebag clamp used herein.

Figure 5- is a fragmentary section on the line 5-5 of Figural.

Figure 6 is a'se'ction on the line E5 of Figure 4. {Figure 7 is asection on the line L-T of Figure4. F-igure 8 is an enlarged view of thestrap clamp herein. a 3 l herein shown the bag clamp forming the lowerpart of this invention is provided with two jaws, AandB. The jaw A lieson the outside of the bag next the body of the user and includes a loweror main portion is formed of wood orotlier suitable material andpreferably rectangular in cross-section, the edges being rounded off.-This body is thus has a flat side I l which rests against the wearer andthe lower end of this side curves outwardly as at 2 to meet the lowerflat side portion l3 which engages the outer face of the mailbag M belowthe hero or lip H. The rounded end I2 eases the fit of the clamp'againstthe wearer and prevents the jaw Afrom causing pressure against thewearers lower ribs. Above the net side 6 tlie bo'd y H] has a flat" sidel-l which engages against the hem H and the side Mis offset inwardlyfrom the side 4.3 so as to provide an upwardly facing shoulder i5. Thisshoulder engages beneath the bottom edge of the hem'arid aidsinpreventing the clamp from slipping upwardly and hecomiri'g disengaged"from the bag.

' 'Teethor other gripping dViC8S U10t shownrmay hold the against thelower portion 3 0 2 the and particularly pointed out in the appended g.

' claim.

jaw If desired the gripping faces of both jaws A and Bym'ay'beroughened'like a file, teeth punched through like a grater or any othersuitable gripping means may be employed to securely hold the bag betweenthe gripping jaws. The

' top of the body I0 is fiat and from thi fiat top '18 at its upper end.This closure is fixed with relation to the housing and this may be donein a variety of ways. For instance, the closure may be integral with theside wall of the housing, it

may be welded or brazed in place or it may be held by a flange or bytabs turned inwardly over its upper face. The manner of holding theclosure forms no part of the present invention and accordingly theseveral manners of securing the I same have not been illustrated. Theopening in screw 22 is screwed through the sleeve wall to engage saidshaft and secure the latter in adjusted position in the sleeve. In orderto aiford access to the set-screw 22, the housing provided with. awindow. or access opening 23 as best seen in Figure 4. The sleeve isnormally held in the bottom of the housing by a coiled compressionspring 24 which, at its lower end, surrounds the upper. end of thesleeve and engages on the flangezl. This spring 24 may be larger indiameterat its upper end, in order not to interfere with the shaft S asit enters the bore IS.- The upper end of theset collar Zil'may bebeveled on the inside to provide a guide for the consists of a channelshaped lower part 25 and a tubular upper part 21, the latter forming; ahandle or grip. The channel is positioned with its web 28 confrontingthe side portions [3 and of the jaw A and from this channel extend apair of hinge ears 2!! which fit between the cars 25.. A pivot pin 36extends through these ears and is suitably secured as by riveting theends. A coiled torsion spring 3! surrounds the pin- 30 between the ears2%! andone end of this spring extends into the tubular portion 2'! andpresses against the front wall thereof. The other end of the spring 3|extends upwardly to engage between lugs 32 formed on the housing IT.This spring constantly urges the lower ends of the jaws A and B towardeach other.

On the housing 11 is an eye 33 to which is connected one' end of a"chain or other flexible strand 34. A' shaft clip 35 is attached to theother end of this. chain. The clip 35 is preferably formed from a singlelength of wire of sufiicient temper to provide the necessaryspringiness. This wire is bent adjacent one end to provide a terminalportion 35 and a substantially. parallel portion 37 forming a lowerstrap engaging jaw. From the portion 31 the wire extends upwardly as I?isat 38 and is'bent to provide parallel portions 39 and 40 forming theupper strap engaging jaw and from the portion 40 the wire extendsforwardly at 4| and then backwardly as at 42 to jaws A and B are graspedand pressed toward each other to open the bag clamp. The lower end ofthe jaw B is inserted in the bag close to the bag side and pressure onthe upper jaw parts is "relaxed. This permits the bag to be firmlygrasped. The strap clip is now forced onto the bag strap and the shaftof the umbrella swung to be gripped thereby. When in this position theumbrella shaft will be held close to the users body without theassistance of either hand. If a gust of wind catches beneath theumbrella and tends to lift it the spring will absorb the shock and theumbrella and clamp will not tear loose from the bag.

If it is found that the umbrella canopy is not at the proper heightthedevice may be removed from the bag and the shaft turned until thesetscrew is opposite the window whereupon a screwdriver is used toloosen the screw, the shaft moved upor down to suit the user and thescrew again tightened.

v The bore [6 is preferably slanted in such a manner as to-incline theumbrella shaft rearwardly at its upper part so that it will lie close tothe users body. It is also to be noted that the spring 24 is so shapedand mounted that it is held concentrically of the bore and thus will notinterfere with the insertion of the umbrella shaft.

What is claimed as new is: J

In a postmans umbrella. carrier of the character described, a bodyhaving a bore extending downwardly from its upper end, a tubular housingtelescopically and non-rotatably mounted on the upper end of thebody,.said housing having an upper end closure provided with an openingsubstantially equal in size to and alined with said bore, an umbrellashaft projecting downward through. said opening and bore, a collarwithin said housing surrounding the shaft above said body, a set-screwsecuring the collar releasably in selected position on the shaft, saidhousing havinga lateral opening affording access to said set-screw, aflange extending circumferentially around the collar intermediate theends of the collar, said set-screw being located below the flange, acoiled compression spring surrounding said shaft with one end bearingagainst the housing closure and its other end resting on said flange,and the end of the collar above the flange engaging in and centering thespring around the shaft.

' WAYNE I-I. MAJOR.

